You Owe Me
by Laree
Summary: *Yaoi SenKo/KoshKo* Sendoh calls in a favor from Koshino which calls for him to try and fix him up with Kogure.
1. Default Chapter

  


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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction

You Owe Me   
One Shot   
March 12, 2002   
8:33 PM 

This fic is dedicated to Fufu-chan whose birthday was on the fifth ^__^. Since you don't have any particular favorite pairing, I though a little SenKo and SenKosh might be fine with you. Anyways, Happy Birthday, Fufu, even if it is already a little late…Heehee…I hope you like it ^__^   


~**~ 

" Get your jaw off of the ground and try to act like a civilized person will you, Sendoh?" Koshino Hiroaki growled, glaring daggers at his spiky haired companion. Sendoh had been so engrossed in following the progress of a particularly cute freshman guy across the cafeteria that he hadn't noticed when the heap of rice on his raised chopsticks had fallen onto the front of his school blazer. 

Ignoring Koshino, the Ryonan ace half rose from his seat, his gaze still following the boy.   
" Koshino-kun…" He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder for some much needed support. His knees had grown strangely weak at the sight of the freshman. " Koshino-kun…I swear to you that this time, I really, truly am-" 

" In love?" Koshino finished for him, rolling his eyes. This made this…what? The fifth time he heard that claim from Sendoh in the past three days? Yesterday it was the Third year guy that had been campaigning for a spot in the Student Representative body and the day before that, it had been the guy that Sendoh had been paired with for biology lab. Koshino knew enough never to take the guy's declarations of love seriously. He tugged on the taller boy's sleeve until he finally plopped back down on his chair. 

" Must find out that guys name…Hikoichi…where is Hikoichi when you need him?" Feverishly bright blue eyes darted around the spacious Ryonan High cafeteria in search for the much needed, loudmouthed freshman. If you ever wanted any dirt about anything or anybody, then Hikoichi was the guy to call on. Sendoh had employed his junior's services quite a few times before while he had been in hot pursuit of other romantic prospects. 

" You sent him off to get some info on that Baseball club guy, remember? The one that you ran into yesterday?" 

" Oh yeah! The Baseball club guy!" Sendoh pursed his lips thoughtfully, mentally comparing the freshman, who had had decided to dub as 'Jell-o boy' (he had noticed that the only thing on the guy's tray had been a container of green Jell-o), and the Baseball club guy that had thrown a ball right into his behind as he had been passing by the field the day before on his leisurely way to basketball practice. " Hmm…I can't decide which one is cuter." 

Koshino rolled his eyes at this. " Does it even really matter to you? With the track record that you have, you'll probably get both of them out on a date with you with no problems whatsoever…" 

" Ooh…Koshino-kun! Kinky! Are you suggesting a threesome?" 

" Hentai!" 

" Me? A hentai?" Sendoh gave his companion the full benefit of his innocent, wide-eyed blue gaze. "Hey, I wasn't the dirty minded one that suggested a threesome. I'm looking for a real commitment here." 

Koshino had by now lost all interest in the conversation and was staring down at his cell phone, reading the SMS that he had just received from a much admired senior of his from his Junior High School. His sempai, who was also a member of the basketball club in his own school, had come to Ryonan to arrange a friendly practice match with the Ryonan Basketball Club. Since he was passing by anyways, his sempai wanted to meet him so that he could give him a late birthday gift. " Is that so, Sendoh?" He muttered absentmindedly, busy typing out a reply. 

" But I'm serious this time!" 

" Oh yeah. Like I've never heard that before…" 

" Your lack of faith in my fidelity hurts me, my little friend." 

" Who the hell are you calling little?" Koshino snapped, banging his cell phone down onto the table and fixing his icy glare on a suddenly very uncomfortable Sendoh. The spiky haired boy had forgotten that any reference to Koshino Hiroaki's vertically challenged state was taboo. 

" No one, Koshino-kun…" The tall basketball player's eyes darted around the room nervously, seeking out the best escape path available to him in the case that Koshino turned violent, which was quite likely, seeing how bad tempered the guy was. 

" And Sendoh, by the way. How do you expect me to react when you tell me that you've fallen in love again? Do you want me to dance around you throwing confetti up in the air, singing out my praises to Sendoh Akira and the joy of love? Is that what you want me to do? Because I would get very tired doing that every time you see a nice little piece of ass and decide that you want him." Another less than pleasant aspect about Koshino Hiroaki that Sendoh had always tried to steer clear of as much as he possibly could was his cutting sarcasm. " You've never truly fallen in love, Sendoh. You've fallen in lust, a lot more times than I can count, incidentally, but you've never truly fallen in love." 

" And why the hell do you say that?" 

" Because Sendoh, you've never bothered to stay long enough with one person to find out what he's really like. I mean…your longest relationship lasted for what? A month?" 

" Three weeks, actually." He corrected him. 

" Yes. Three weeks. The moment that you get what you want from a guy, you dump him. That's you. That's the way that Sendoh Akira the playboy works and it's not very nice. It's not something that a guy who was truly in love with someone would do." 

" How would you know, Koshino-kun? You've never had a relationship with anybody before…" Sendoh pointed out, not able to resist bringing up Koshino's other sore spot. He wondered why this was so. All right, so sometimes, Koshino could be a bit of a shrew, but he had a lot of redeeming qualities in him. The guy was handsome, smart, and once you got to know him a lot better, you would realize that he was really quite sweet in spite of the gruff exterior. 

" It's just common sense, you idiot. And so dumping someone after three weeks of dating is the way to show them that you love them, is it?" Koshino snorted. " Just admit it, Sendoh. You have never been in love before and have no hope of ever finding love if you go right on acting the way that you are now." 

The little shrimp (Sendoh's secret nickname for Koshino, though he would never let the guy know about this. Sure, Koshino was a lot smaller than him and everything, but fury gave you a lot of strength and Sendoh had no wish to die yet.), had his point. " Is it my fault that I've never met anyone who's been able to hold my interest any longer than that?" 

" Maybe that's because you always base your judgment on looks and always end up dating the really shallow idiots around Kanagawa?" 

Sendoh pondered over this. " Maybe." Then, grinning, he clapped a hand over the one that Koshino had resting on the table. " So, do you want to go out with me, Koshi-kun? I'm not basing my judgment on just looks anymore so-" 

" Are you implying that I'm ugly?" 

The spiky haired player sighed. Nothing that he ever said around Koshino, the oh-so-sensitive vertically challenged one, was ever right. " No, Koshino-kun. That wasn't what I meant. I meant that you would be the most perfect guy in the world for me since you have looks and brains and talent when it comes to basketball…" That succeeded nicely in softening him up. As intellectual and snappish as Koshino was, he had a weakness for compliments. This was the way to his good side and Sendoh was perfectly aware of that. " You're right, I guess, Koshino-kun. I guess I am getting pretty sick of going out with guys who can't talk of anything but how impressed they are with my ball playing skills…" 

Koshino rolled his eyes at this. " Really? I always thought that you got a kick out of hearing people gush over you…" 

" It gets old after a while…you wouldn't know though…I guess no one gushes over you…"   
" Sendoh!" But before he could use his empty lunch tray to bash his companion over the head, Koshino heard gentle laughter from behind him. Familiar laughter. He whirled around, a huge smile on his face, the extermination of the nuisance that was Sendoh Akira momentarily forgotten. 

" Hiroaki-kun, I see that you still have a bit of a problem controlling your temper…" 

" Kimi-sempai! Nori-sempai!" Koshino could see the much larger boy with the bespectacled one rolling his eyes at the sound of the nick name that he had never liked, but which he had permitted him, a favorite team mate of his back in Junior High, to call him by. " Wow! It's been such a long time since I've last seen the two of you!" 

Sendoh was rather surprised to see Koshino so animated and in such a good humor. He was rarely very friendly with anyone, so he looked up, curious to see the people that his friend was greeting so warmly. He watched with faint interest as Koshino got up to his feet and gave the shorter of the two a warm hug that was gladly reciprocated. The taller stepped back as Koshino came towards him and offered him a hand instead. 

" I told you that you should have gone to Shohoku with us." Came the gruff reply from the one that was even taller than Sendoh himself. At the mention of Shohoku, Sendoh immediately deducted that this was the famed Shohoku Basketball Club Captain, Akagi Takenori. He couldn't, for the life of him, figure out who it was that was with him though. He couldn't see the guy's face properly because of the big, blue stuffed bear that he had in his arms. 

" And what, deprive Ryonan of one damn good player?" 

" Ahh…Kimi-sempai! You shouldn't say such things. My ego might become inflated." Koshino laughed in good humor, thoroughly flattered. 

Sendoh's eyes darted back and forth from the Shohoku players to Koshino, unable to believe how pleasant his friend was being towards the two. 

Akagi jerked his thumb back towards his companion. " Before we go any further, I just want you to know that I had nothing to do with the bear." 

" Come on, Akagi-kun. It's cute." Kogure defended himself, holding the bear out towards Koshino. For the first time, Sendoh was able to see the guy's face and he liked what he saw; floppy dark-brown hair, soulful brown eyes behind a pair of round glasses and the sweetest little rosebud mouth that Sendoh just knew would be velvety soft to the touch. This guy was definitely just as gorgeous as Jell-o boy but he had to keep to his decision about not going for somebody just because they were cute. He didn't want any more shallow relationships. He wanted to have a serious, long lasting one for once. " Don't you think so, Hiro-kun? I thought you would like it. It has its own little basketball and it's blue. Blue for Ryonan!" The guy laughed happily at this as though it was the most amusing thing in the world. Sendoh sighed in disappointment. The Shohoku player was an obvious airhead, based from the way he was acting over the bear. 

Koshino laughed along with him weakly, taking the bear. God. It was gigantic. He was going to have to carry this huge, basketball toting blue bear around school for the whole day. Couldn't Kogure have taken the time to wrap it up so that he wouldn't have to go through the embarrassment having people see him walking around school lugging a big, stuffed toy along with him? Sendoh snickered at the look on his face. " Thank you, Kimi-sempai. It's very…" 

" Blue?" Sendoh supplied helpfully. 

" Ignore him." Koshino advised his seniors as he gave Sendoh a dirty look. " He's an idiot." 

Akagi looked him over with some interest, knowing perfectly well who he was. " Sendoh Akira. It's very nice to formally meet you. I'm Akagi Takenori, Captain of the Shohoku Basketball Club." 

" No introductions are necessary, Akagi-san. I know who you are." Sendoh replied cheerfully, pumping Akagi's hand energetically. 

" And this is Kogure Kiminobu, Vice-captain of the club." A small smile made its appearance on Akagi's face as he gently dug his elbow into the said vice-captain's ribs. " Who, incidentally, Koshino, is now the Student Representative Council President of Shohoku…" 

Koshino raised an eyebrow at this. " Aren't you sort of taking on a lot, Kimi-sempai? I mean the Council and the Basketball Club…You're going to be awfully busy, aren't you?" 

" Oh, don't worry about him. This is Kogure we're talking about. Mr. Always-on-top-of-the-class-since-preschool Kogure. Sakuragi Hanamichi thinks he's not human. It's abnormal for someone to be so smart. ' Megane-kun is a freak of nature' to quote that idiot." 

All right, so maybe he had been wrong about the whole 'airhead' thing. Just because a guy went into ecstasy over some cute blue teddy bear with a basketball, didn't necessarily mean that he was an airhead, judging from what Akagi was saying about this Kogure. Maybe Kogure just had a thing for cute, soft, furry things. Sendoh tipped his head to one side, thoughtfully perusing the brown haired boy. Cute and he had brains…Hmm…This Kogure Kiminobu was looking better and better with each passing second. He was just the kind of guy that might be able to hold his interest, just the kind of guy that he had vowed, only a few minutes before, to be looking for. Well, he guessed that he could now stop his searching. He had found the perfect prospect. Things should be easy, what with Koshino being so close to the guy and all. Maybe it was time for him to call in some favors…He cleared his throat, wanting to join into the conversation. " Sakuragi Hanamichi?" He asked. 

" A freshman. You'll meet him soon enough. When we have that practice match this coming Friday." 

" Oh? Really? And will the two of you be there also?" 

Koshino snorted. " The answer should be pretty obvious, given the fact that Nori-sempai is the captain of the team and Kimi-sempai the vice-captain." He pointed out. 

" Oh, yeah!" Sendoh hid his embarrassment behind a huge smile. God. How stupid of him to forget something like that. 

" We'll see you at the practice match then, Koshino-kun? Maybe we can go out afterwards so that we can catch up on things? It'll be fun! We have to get back to Shohoku now to tell Anzai-sensei about the arrangements, though. I'm really sorry that we couldn't have stayed a little longer to chat. We just came by to drop off your gifts." 

Akagi handed Koshino a gift wrapped package. " As I said, I had nothing to do with the bear. He chose it on his own." 

" But it's cute, Akagi! By the way, Hiro-kun, I got sort of attached to the bear so I took the liberty of giving it a name. It's called, 'Fufu'." 

" Fufu…What a…nice name for the bear." 

Kogure grinned at Koshino's approval. " I thought so too, Hiro-kun. Anyways, it was very nice to meet you, Sendoh-san. I guess that I'll see the two of you again at the practice match then! See you!" 

" Please, call me Aki…" But it was already too late. Kogure had already walked off with Akagi and Sendoh hadn't even been able to bid him a proper goodbye. He sighed. He watched as Koshino carefully set down the bear on the seat beside him, hoping that his friend would notice the morose expression on his face and ask him what the matter was. It didn't seem as though the guy meant to pay him any attention soon, though. Koshino was too absorbed in carefully opening the package that Akagi had given him. Sendoh let out a theatrical little sigh. 

Koshino looked at him warily, knowing, from past experience, that Sendoh was up to something. " What is it?" 

" Koshino-kun…Remember that talk that we were having before those two came about me trying to find a guy who wasn't so shallow…" 

" I'm not an idiot, Sendoh. How could I forget a conversation that we had only a few minutes before?" 

" I think I've found the guy, Koshino-kun. And I want you to help fix me up with your sempai…" 

Koshino's brow furrowed as he considered this. Hmm…His sempai didn't really strike him as the type that Sendoh usually went for, but stranger things have happened. Usually, he would flat out refuse such a proposal from the resident hentai of Ryonan, what kind of friend would he be if he subjected someone to the weirdo that was Sendoh Akira after all, but his sempai should be able to handle him. " Fine." 

Sendoh's jaw dropped open upon hearing this. He had expected a bit more a struggled than this! He had thought that he would have plague Koshino for a day or two before the shorter boy would finally relent. "Really?" 

" Yeah, really. It'll be fun watching you try to get close to Nori-sempai…" 

" Nori-sempai?" Sendoh squawked, reeling back in shock. " No! No way…I don't go out with guys who are Uozumi-sempai look-alikes…"   
  
" So you were talking about Kimi-sempai?" 

" Well…yeah. He's awfully cute." 

" Well then, you can forget about it." Kogure was an altogether different matter. He was fine with the idea of Sendoh with Akagi but not with sweet, mild mannered Kimi-sempai. Akagi could defend himself. He could knock Sendoh senseless if he tried to get too fresh, but Kimi-sempai wouldn't be able to. Koshino would rot in hell before he would let that hentai lay his dirty hands on Kimi-sempai. 

" But Koshino-kun!" Sendoh wailed, attracting the attention of the people in the nearby tables. Koshino could swear that the Ryonan ace just loved making big scenes. " He's just my type!" 

" Since when have the sweet, smart and studious types been your type?" 

" Since we had our little talk." 

" Well then, forget about our talk. I was only kidding. The shallow types are better suited to you." Koshino told him. " I won't let you corrupt Kimi-sempai." 

" You make it sound as though Kogure-kun's soul would be banished to hell the moment he comes into contact with me…" 

" Oh? Really?" Koshino offered no apologies. 

Sendoh took a deep breath, tired of Koshino and his surliness. " Look, Koshino-kun. I'm asking you really nicely here. I really, really want this. By the way, have I mentioned that fixing me up with Kogure-kun will benefit you greatly?" 

" Oh, yes? And in what way?" Koshino asked, feigning interest. 

" I don't usually like calling in favors Koshino-kun, but since I'm desperate…do you remember a certain incident just the week before when you declared your eternal debt to me after I helped you out with something?" 

" I don't recall ever doing that! That would just be stupid! That would be like selling your soul to the spiky haired devil incarnate!" 

Sendoh shook his head, adamantly sticking to his story. " Koshino-kun, I swear you did. Remember a certain date with a certain hyperactive Kainan player that a certain Fukuda helped set up for you with his friend?" 

" Would a certain idiot please get back to the damn point?" 

" Well, do you remember making a phone-call after a 'dancing cooked lobster incident' when you called me up to bail you out, interrupting my date with the devastatingly lovely Fujima Kenji of Shoyo, which, incidentally, was going really well at that point?" 

" Oh god…Memories of the night that he had tried vainly to block out came back to mind…from this moment on, he would never be able to look at a lobster again without thinking of Kiyota Nobunaga. 

" Yeah. Oh God…" Sendoh agreed, grinning. " I guess you remember now, huh? You remember how you came crying to me on the phone, begging me to get you out of that date? How you swore that you would do anything, anything for me as long as I got you out of there? You're not one to go back on your word, Koshino-kun. Are you?" 

" No…" A sense of inevitable doom blanketed Koshino. 

" Remember how I abandoned my date with Fujima, a very hard thing for me to do, by the way. How I got you out of there because of my deep sense of loyalty to you and everything?" 

" Yes, Sendoh." 

" Well, I'm calling in that favor now, Koshino-kun." Sendoh declared, grinning cheerfully. " I want you to arrange something for Kogure-kun and me. You owe me."   
  



	2. Part Two

  


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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction

~**~   


Kogure blinked down at the younger boy that had prostrated himself in front of him. Koshi-kun had always been a rather strange guy, but it seemed as though he had gotten even worse with time. "Hiroaki-kun…Get up. Please. You're making me really uncomfortable here…" Kogure had been baffled enough when Koshino had appeared from out of the blue at his doorstep. Now, as he tried to coax the younger boy out of his position on the floor of the Kogure living room, he wondered if he should maybe call the guy's parents up so that they could come and pick him up. It was pretty obvious to Kogure that all was not well within the workings of his junior's mind. 

" Kimi-sempai! I am so sorry…so sorry. This is all my fault." 

The bespectacled boy watched in bewilderment as Koshino began to beat his fist against his chest in a show of extreme penance. " What's all your fault, Hiro-kun?" 

" That Sendoh ever set eyes on you." 

" What are you talking about? And what has Sendoh got to do anything? Please, Hiro-kun. Get yourself out of that ridiculous position so that the two of us can talk. I don't want my mother to come walking in here and seeing you like that." 

Koshino obediently followed his senior towards the couch, settling himself at the spot that the older boy indicated. 

"Now, Hiro-kun. Tell me what the matter is. I'll try and help you out in any way that I can." 

" I feel like a bloody pimp." 

" Oh, come on." Kogure laughed merrily. " It can't possibly be that bad!" 

" Tell me, Kimi-sempai. How would you feel about going out with Sendoh?" Koshino muttered. He knew that he shouldn't be so worried about what his senior's reaction to the proposal would be. Kogure was not a violent person, so he was in no immediate physical threat. So then, why the hell was every nerve in his body telling him that there was no way in hell that he would ever let Sendoh Akira go out with Kogure Kiminobu? 

Kogure's eyes widened slightly at this very unexpected question. Now where the hell did that come from? He wondered. It seemed as though Koshino badly needed some sort of an answer though, so he gave him one. The question seemed pretty pointless to him but Koshino seemed to think it was very important. " Your friend was really nice and all, Koshino-kun. But…To tell you the truth…he's not really the type that I would consider going out with. Let's just say that his reputation is known, even in Shohoku." 

" That's what I thought…" Koshino perked up instantly upon hearing this. At least he had tried! Sendoh should be happy with that. Love couldn't be forced and if Kogure didn't think that Sendoh was his type, there was really nothing more that Koshino could do to press the matter, was there? Feeling as though a considerable load had been taken off his shoulders, Koshino stood up, about to take his leave when Kogure jerked him back down onto the couch before he could do so. 

" Wait a second, Koshino. I answered your question. Now it's your turn to answer mine. What the hell were you asking me something like that for?" 

" Would you believe me if I told you that it was merely out of curiosity?" 

Kogure shook his head. " No. Not really. I've never known you to be much of a gossip…" 

" All right then. Let's just say that I'm indebted to someone. Sendoh Akira himself, to be precise. I owe him big time and he's called in his favor, which just happens to sort of involve you. Now isn't that funny?" Koshino let out the poorest excuse for a laugh that Kogure had ever encountered in his life. 

" No. It doesn't seem funny to me at all." He retorted, killing off the younger boy's false mirth. " Tell me, Koshino-kun. How did I, someone who Sendoh only met this afternoon, somehow get involved in all of this? And how the hell did you manage to get in debt to him anyways? You don't owe him money or anything, do you?" 

" No. It's nothing like that…Well…You see…" Koshino's cheeks flushed. Even thinking about that horrendous date with the Kainan freshman succeeded in making him sick to his stomach. " I had this really, really, unbelievably horrendous date a while back…" 

" How bad was it?" 

" Very bad. Let's just say that there was a little incident involving some dead seafood and that I'll never be able to show my face around that restaurant again. Or Kainan, for that matter." 

" Maa, Koshino-kun. We all have our less than pleasant dates. Now, tell me how Sendoh figures in all of this." 

" Well. By the time that Kiyota got around to playing out a little dance routine with the lobsters that he'd ordered, I just snapped. I couldn't take it anymore. Kimi-sempai, all of the people in there were looking at us! They were just staring at us!" Koshino shuddered. Unlike Sendoh, he had never really liked too much attention. That's why he preferred to stay in the background of his more outgoing and cheery friend. " So I made some lame excuse and I went to call Sendoh up. I begged him to come and get me out of that hellhole. There was no way that I could last much longer without giving in to the urge to jump up and throttling that stupid Kiyota. But Sendoh was in the middle of a date with Fujima Kenji then. He's had a crush on that guy for the longest time and this date really meant a lot to him but I needed to get out of there! I begged, and I pleaded and I swore to him that I would be eternally indebted to him if he just did me this one, single favor. And then he came and bailed me out. Something about my pet cat being stuck up a tree. Sendoh's not the fastest thinker in the world, obviously…" 

" All right. So you owe him. What exactly do you owe him?" 

It took a few seconds of stalling before Koshino finally managed to spit it all out. " Kiminobu-sempai…He…he wants you…" 

Kogure blanched at this. " Wha…what?" 

" He wants me to set him up with you." Koshino repeated. " But really, you don't have to agree to it or anything just because of me. If you don't want to do that, then please don't force yourself on my account. I won't mind and I'll just do something else for Sendoh then." 

" He wants a date with me?" 

" Yeah. That's it, basically. But as I said, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. I can understand you completely. I realize that Sendoh couldn't have made that much of a good impression on you when you first met him. He's not the smartest guy around and he's a bit of a goofball." 

Kogure took off his glasses and began to wipe the lenses off on his shirt. If Koshino really needed some help from him then he should give it to him readily. It wasn't as though it would be that unpleasant. Sendoh, though he wasn't the usual type that Kogure would go for, seemed like a nice enough guy in their brief encounter. So he was a bit goofy and had a reputation for being a playboy. But if Kogure knew anything about life, it was that chances should be taken. Besides, he hadn't been out on many dates lately and going out for a while with this Sendoh Akira and having a bit of fun could be nice. Taking a deep breath, he popped his glasses back on, a smile on his lips. "He didn't have to ask you to arrange it for him, you know. He could have just asked me himself and I would have said yes." 

For a while Koshino thought that he had maybe heard his senior wrong. " What? Yes?" 

" Yeah. We can go out after the practice match then." 

" Oh…that's…good." Koshino knew that he should have been a lot happier about the whole thing than he really was, so what the hell was the matter with him and why was he feeling so much disappointment upon hearing his senior's agreement?   


~**~ 

" I don't see why you have to come along with us…" Sendoh grumbled as he riffled through a stack of photo albums on Koshino's study table. He stopped at one particular photo of Koshino with his teammates from back in Junior High. There was Kogure standing right beside the gigantic Akagi smiling up at him sweetly. " Kawaii!" He breathed, not noticing the dark look on his best friend's face. 

" Will you stop going through my stuff, dammit?" 

" Calm down, Hiro-kun! I was just looking over your old photos. Has anyone ever told you how sweet you looked before?" Sendoh propped the large album up onto his lap so that his companion could see what it was that he was looking at and pointed at one particular picture that had caught his eye. It was one of a very young Koshino, presumably around twelve years old, flashing a gap toothed grin towards the camera as he hugged a squirming black Labrador puppy to himself. Sendoh looked from the picture, to Koshino and back to the picture once more. " What the hell happened to your teeth? And I can't believe that stupid dog of yours was actually a cute puppy once…" Sendoh liked animals. He liked pretty much anything and anyone when it all came down to it. But he had never been particularly fond of the hellhound that Koshino had for a pet. The thing hated him with a vengeance. All it took was the sound of the spiky haired player's voice to whip it up into frenzy. He could remember a few instances, when he had had a particularly bad misunderstanding with Koshino, which had ended with the horrid dog being released and set after him. 

" Nori-sempai accidentally threw a ball into my face, all right? And Cuddles is a sweetie." 

" What person, in their right mind, would name such a savage, soulless killing machine "Cuddles"?" 

Koshino raised an eyebrow at this. " You questioning Kimi-sempai's taste now, are you?" 

Sendoh held back a sigh. He should have known. What was it with the guy and the cute names thing? A bear named Fufu, a killer hound named Cuddles…"I pity the future children that I will have with Kogure-kun." 

Koshino snorted. " Don't think that far ahead, Sendoh. And what the hell are you talking about? Were you absent for the whole unit of sex education that we had last semester? It's physically impossible for you to have children with Kiminobu-sempai unless there are some sort of medical miracles in the near future that will allow a man to reproduce with another man…" 

" I've always had a great belief in science." 

" Oh yes. Shown perfectly by that incredible grade of D minus that you got last semester." 

" God, Koshy-kun. Must you always be so testy?" 

"Must you always piss me off with your stupidity?" 

" All I was asking was why you needed to be around on my date with Kogure-kun…" Sendoh pointed out, somehow managing to look incredibly affronted. " I mean, shouldn't let the two of us have some time alone by ourselves so that we can get to know each other better?" 

" And what exactly do you mean by 'get to know each other better?'" Koshino demanded, his eyes narrowing. The guy couldn't have any good intentions in his mind. Not with the way that Sendoh was smiling. After being best friends with him for the past two years, he could by now read the guy like a book, and that smile meant that ole' spiky was up to something. Something that Koshino was very sure he would not like or approve of. 

" God, Koshino! It's not like I'm going to jump the guy or anything!" Sendoh would have felt very hurt at his best friend's seeming lack of faith in him if it wasn't for the fact that he knew that he had done several things in the past to deserve such doubt. 

" For some reason, I have a very hard time believing that. I'm going with you on that date, Sendoh. Take it or leave it." 

" But Koshino-kun! Don't you think that it's…it's…" Sendoh scrambled around madly in his mind for a good reason that Koshino shouldn't be there while he was out on his date with the adorable Shohoku vice-captain. How the hell was he supposed to have a good time with Koshino glowering at him if he even dared to touch Kogure with one finger? He loved Koshino to bits, really. He was closer to him than anybody else in the world, but Koshino was not his idea of a good chaperone. Rather, Koshino struck him as the type who would chaperone too well. " Don't you think that it would be an infringement of privacy or something like that?" 

" Not at all. I prefer to think of it as making sure that Kimi-sempai isn't put through the ordeal of your wandering hands…" 

" I'm not that much of a pervert, Koshino!" 

" Yare yare…so. What will it be? Do I come along with you and Kogure, or do I call him right now and tell him that the date is off?" Koshino held up his cell phone to indicate his readiness to do so. " Make up your mind, Sendoh." 

" Hey! Wait! You have to do this favor for me! You owe me! You can't take all of this back!" 

" That's right, Sendoh. I do owe you. But this part of the whole thing is non negotiable. Either I come with you, or say bye-bye to the date with Kogure." 

" Koshino-kun!" 

The smaller boy made a big show of scrolling through the numbers in his phone book for Sendoh's benefit. 

" Fine. Fine. Whatever you want." 

At this, Koshino flashed him a cheerful smile that Sendoh very seldom got to see, and threw the phone onto his mattress. " I knew you would see things my way, Sendoh-kun."   


~**~ 

"I'm ready! What do you think, Koshino-kun?" Sendoh demanded as he turned from side to side in front of his best friend to give him a full view of his outfit. 

Koshino scowled. He hated to admit it, but Sendoh looked incredible in his simple blue button down shirt (the top two buttons undone to give just a little enticing glimpse of his broad, perfectly formed chest) and a pair of well-cut jeans that showed of his lean legs to its full advantage. It made Koshino wish that he were wearing anything but his ratty old black Limp Bizkit T-shirt and baggy shorts. " You look fine, all right? Now can we just get going? Kimi-sempai must be at the meeting place by now." 

" Think he noticed me at the game, Koshi-kun?" Sendoh wondered, stopping before a mirror to give his hair one last look over. " Do you think he noticed that amazing shot at the last second? I hope he did…I did it all for him after all…" 

Koshino rolled his eyes. " Maybe if you weren't so busy pulling stunts to get him to notice you, the game wouldn't have been so close?" 

" Nah. Shohoku was great. They're going to give us a lot of trouble later on…" 

" Don't let Taoka-sensei hear you saying that. You're high enough on his shit list as it is." Koshino advised him as they stepped out of the locker room that Shohoku had provided for their use. " By the way, Kimi-sempai invited a friend of his to come along with us when he heard that I was going to come along…" 

" Really?" Sendoh snickered, digging an elbow into Koshino's ribs. " Maybe Kogure-kun saw how lonely you were and decided to try and fix you up with someone! Or may be he thinks that you're an annoying third wheel and that bringing someone along will help get rid of you!" 

" Do you have some sort of death wish, Sendoh?" 

" Uh…no." 

" Then I advise you to shut up. Right now." 

Sendoh was not stupid, contrary to popular belief around Ryonan. He knew perfectly well when it wasn't safe for him to push the limit. This was one of those times. So he quietly followed Koshino to the pre-arranged meeting place. 

They soon came into sight of the senior that Sendoh had by now decided he was madly in love with, and the said senior's companion, a red head whose voice could be heard, even from the distance. The spiky haired boy began to wildly wave his arms above his head in a bid to gain the attention of Kogure. " Kogure-kun! Yoo-hoo! Kogure-kun! Hey!" 

Koshino scowled when he saw the smile on Kogure's face at the sight of his best friend. Sendoh obviously amused him. He was actually glad to see Sendoh! This pissed him off, and when Koshino got pissed off, he usually took it out on one person. 

Surreptitiously, Koshino stuck out one foot just as Sendoh sprinted forward towards the Shohoku vice-captain. What happened next was not pretty. The spiky haired boy went sprawling some distance across the grassy front lawn of Shohoku High, finally landing face first on the ground. 

The Ryonan point guard smirked inwardly to himself as he watched Kogure look on in shock, his red headed companion wracked by a hysterical fit of laughter. Well, Sendoh's date was off to a pretty good start, if he did say so himself.   
himself. 

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	3. Part Three

  


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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction

You Owe Me   
Part Three 

Just a random thought…how does Kogure manage to keep his glasses on while running around on court? It's really amazing how he manages to do that…Heehee…   


" Sendoh-kun? Are you feeling better now? Would you like me to get some more ice to put on your face?" Kogure asked, his concern evident as he carefully touched his finger tips to the ugly purple bruise on one side of the Ryonan player's face. Sendoh just grinned stupidly in reply, leaning in closer towards the older boy's touch, ecstatically happy for the simple contact between the two of them. 

Judging from the look on his teammate's face, the spiky haired boy would have been perfectly happy to die right then and there with Kogure's hand against his face. Truth be told, Koshino would have been all too happy to oblige. Sendoh was getting on his nerves with his attempts to make himself look as pathetic as possible in order to gain Kogure's sympathy. And Kogure being the sucker for anyone or anything in pain, fell right into his trap, coddling him and fussing over him as though Sendoh was incapable of the easiest of tasks. 

Koshino finally snapped when the older boy began to try and coax Sendoh into taking a sip of his drink. Scowling, disgusted at the fact that his senior couldn't see that it was all just a big act, he took hold of Sendoh's chin and turned his face towards him, away from Kogure's touch. " You're fine, aren't you, Sendoh?" he growled, giving the bruised part of Sendoh's face a none too gentle pat. 

" Ouch! Hiro-kun!" The spiky haired Ryonan ace whined, turning big, liquid blue eyes upon Kogure. " See how mean he is to me, Kimi-chan?" He demanded, one hand held up to his injured cheek. 

" Kimi-chan!?" Koshino repeated in disbelief. " I don't recall Kimi-sempai here ever giving you permission to call him that!" He couldn't believe the incredible gall on this guy. He hadn't even known Kogure for a day and already the senior was 'Kimi-chan'? He sure moved fast, faster than Koshino liked. He had known Kogure for years and he still didn't call his senior 'Kimi-chan'. Who was Sendoh to assume that he had the right to do so? He raised his hand, about to give Sendoh a blow over the head for such disrespect. 

Kogure managed to grab his wrist before the punch could make contact, though. He let out a little, awkward laugh, not understanding the way that Koshino was acting towards his supposed best friend. " That's quite all right with me, Koshino-kun. It's better than being called Megane-kun anyways…" 

Hearing this, Hanamichi tore his attention away from his plate piled high with food and looked at his senior quizzically. " You mean you don't like being called Megane-kun?" This idea had never occurred to him, despite of the fact that Kogure had grumbled about it a bit at first when he had begun calling him that. Why would a person not like a nickname that was so appropriate for him? 

Kogure sighed, pushing his glasses into position. He would have thought that that was a given, what with the way that he had attempted, at first, to get the younger boy to call him by his name instead of the nickname that he had come up with. " As a matter of fact, I don't." 

Hanamichi just shrugged. " Oh well. I've gotten used to calling you that. You'll just have to get used to being called that too then, I guess." 

Koshino rolled his eyes. " What perfect, irrefutable logic!" He commented sarcastically. 

The redhead's eyes narrowed at this. He had only known this Koshino person for a few hours, but so far, he hadn't made that much of a favorable impression what with his sarcasm and weird, long words that he didn't understand. " I don't like you very much." He told the much shorter boy bluntly. Usually, people were intimidated when he looked at them with the 'killer eyes' look that Gori had taught him, but Koshino just glared right back at him. " You remind me of Gori, punching the Smiley idiot all the time like that…" 

" You remind me of Sendoh, coming up with stupid comments like that all the time…" Koshino retorted. He ignored the rather bewildered look that Kogure was sending his way. The bespectacled boy began to open his mouth to speak, wondering if he should warn his junior about Hanamichi's notoriously short temper, but decided that Koshino would be able to hold his own against the Shohoku freshman, seeing how testy Koshino himself could get in some instances. The redhead had been annoying him ever since the practice game with all the stupid stunts that he had pulled, and the Ryonan player had pretty much had enough of him. " Actually, I don't really know who is worse between you and Sendoh…" 

" What's up your ass, small fry?" Hanamichi demanded, half rising on his seat from across Koshino. This stupid Ryonan player with the permanently fixed scowl on his face,   
had been on his case ever since the practice game, lecturing him about such crap as respect for his elders, and he was getting sick of him. 

" Small fry!?" Koshino repeated, flaring up at the insult. You could insult him about his hair, his built, you could insult him about anything at all, but when it came to his height, it was best to leave that topic well alone. Being surrounded by a bunch of masculine giants such as Uozumi and Sendoh did not help his delicate, male adolescent ego any when it came to his stature. 

Perfectly aware of his best friend's sensitivity about this topic, Sendoh sat back on his seat, grinning, waiting for the eventual outburst that he knew was coming. He had enough presence of mind to sweep the butter knives off the table just in case Koshino should get it in his head to try and stab the redhead to death. He perused the spoons thoughtfully, wondering if they would be able to do much physical damage. Deciding that they could be utilized to scoop eyeballs out of their sockets, he gathered them together and dumped them all onto his lap. 

" What are you doing?" Kogure asked him mildly as he looked at the assortment of silverware on the Ryonan ace player's lap. 

Sendoh shrugged. " You've never seen all the imaginative uses for silverware that Koshino-kun can come up with when in a bad mood…" He explained flippantly. 

Koshino scowled as the Ryonan star player began to launch into a detailed account of what had happened when one of the judo club members had made a disparaging comment about the seemingly delicate Koshino being better suited for a sport that involved less contact that basketball. He took a deep breath, trying desperately to hold onto his calm and presence of mind. Sendoh expected him to jump Hanamichi, Kogure expected him to jump Hanamichi and Hanamichi expected to be jumped. So he would surprise them all by keeping his cool, he decided. Still, he couldn't keep a scowl from his face as he slapped the side of Sendoh's head, stopping him mid-sentence. " Stop talking about me. Otherwise I'll tell them about how klutzy you are…" He threatened, thinking that this wouldn't be a bad way to make Kogure see just how ill suited Sendoh was for him. 

He didn't want to believe it, but from what he had seen so far, the Shohoku senior actually seemed to enjoy the company of Sendoh. Koshino had never thought this to be possible. He had thought that Sendoh would bore the smart and mature Kogure with his inane chatter about whether the best part of the Oreo cookie was the cookie itself or the stuffing. He knew that after about an hour of debating this deep and potentially earth shattering subject with the spiky haired guy, Koshino had been just about ready to kill him just to make him stop, but Kogure had participated actively in the discussion along with the redhead. 

It was unbelievable…but it seemed as though Kogure actually * liked * Sendoh. 

He had been hoping that after one date, both Sendoh and Kogure would realize just how ill suited they were for each other and part ways, but to his disappointment, that didn't seem to be the case. It only looked as though they were getting closer and closer to each other with each minute that they spent in each other's company. 

" We already know how klutzy he is…" Hanamichi snickered, clearly thinking about the less that perfect beginning to Kogure and Sendoh's date. He grabbed the forks and spoons on Sendoh's lap and began to distribute them out once more. 

Sendoh held his hands up in a gesture of mock surrender. " All right already, all right. I am just one big, accident-prone klutz! I admit it now! Now will you guys just forget all about that?" The spiky haired boy turned to gaze upon Kogure, clearly begging for him to say otherwise. 

The Shohoku senior gladly obeyed. " Oh, no, Sendoh-kun-" 

" Aki-chan…" Sendoh interjected, an endearing smile on his face. 

" Aki-chan?" Koshino growled. This was disgusting! Where the hell did Sendoh learn to openly flirt like this? Surely Kogure wouldn't fall for this sort of thing! Kogure was too sensible, too down to earth too… 

With horror, Koshino watched as a blush began to slowly spread its way across the older boy's face. " Aki-chan then, right…Aki-chan…" Kogure repeated, testing the sound out and apparently liking the way that it came out. Hanamichi began to make gagging noises in protest to the sweetness going on around him. " As I was saying, you're no klutz…A klutz wouldn't have been able to do all those wonderful moves on court like you did!" 

" He wasn't all that good…" Hanamichi grumbled, still slightly smarting from the blow that Ryonan had dealt Shohoku with their loss. " I could do all that stuff easy…" 

" Sure." Koshino piped in conversationally, surprising all of them, " In your dreams…" 

Sendoh was barely able to restrain the furious redhead from jumping up from his seat. Right then, he really didn't care whether Koshino and Hanamichi engaged in a battle to the death right here in the crowded café, he just didn't want this particular discussion to be interrupted. He was in the middle of fishing for compliments after all, a serious business. " And what move of mine did you like the most, Kimi-chan?" He inquired with genuine interest, his eyes focused solely on the older boy. He smiled inwardly in delight when he saw this intense perusal bring about another blush. 

" That shot that you got in right at the last second was brilliant…" 

Hanamichi let out an outraged gasp. " Megane-kun! How can you say such a thing? You traitor!" 

" Just giving credit where credit is due, Sakuragi-kun…" 

Koshino caught the redhead's gaze and rolled his eyes as Sendoh began to give a blow-by-blow account of the last ten seconds with Kogure as an avid listener. The fact that Sendoh spoke far too much for his own good was the only thing that he and the redhead had agreed on so far this whole day. 

He didn't need to be treated to a commentary about the game. He didn't like the way that Sendoh was managing to make himself look so good in front of Kogure. So far, despite of Koshino's best effort, the date was actually doing pretty well. Even Sendoh's less that graceful beginning had only managed to endear the younger boy to Kogure even more. 

He didn't understand how Kogure could fall for Sendoh and his moves. He had thought the older boy to be smarter. He didn't think that he would be so easily taken under the spell of Sendoh's smile, his wit, his good looks, and affable charm. He had been hoping that Kogure would be different and that just this once, just this one little time, that things would go his way. That * he * would get the guy instead of Sendoh… 

Koshino's eyes widened at this thought, attracting the attention of the innately curious redhead. " What's the matter, Pouty?" 

The Ryonan player didn't even take any notice of the new nickname that Sakuragi had come up for him. He was too shocked, too shaken to the core to do anything right then but stare at Kogure and Sendoh who were still deeply engrossed in their conversation. 

For as long as he could remember, he had deeply admired his Kogure-sempai. But it wasn't until now, now that he had fixed him up with his disturbingly handsome and charming best friend that he realized just how deep those feelings ran. 

It bothered him to see Kogure listening to Sendoh like that because it should have been him that Kogure was looking at with such rapt attention. It bothered him that Sendoh was calling Kogure 'Kimi-chan' because he should have been the one doing that and most of all, it bothered him that Kogure was right now out on a date with Sendoh when it should have been him that Kogure was with, and only him, right then. 

I like him…he realized, the look on his face must have been pretty alarming because Hanamichi was looking at him with some concern. The other two were far too busy in their own little world to take much notice of anything. I've liked Kogure for the longest time and I've only realized it now…it was unfortunate that this thought suddenly struck him while he was in the middle of taking a swig of his coke. The fizzy liquid went down the wrong pipe, Koshino gagged, and instinctively spat the mouthful of coke out, right onto Hanamichi's face. Trying to catch his breath and jumping to his feet, he made some feeble excuse, ignoring the enraged shouts of the redhead, before making his way to the men's room of the café for some much needed solitude. 

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